Manjunath’s ‘spirit’ travels all the way to Assam’s forest and farmers

Akhil Gogoi gets Manjunath Shanmugam Integrity Award for exposing corruption in govt projects
Golaghat district in Assam may be far away from a petrol pump in Uttar Pradesh but the distance between the two disappeared this evening on a stage at IIT Delhi. Akhil Gogoi acknowledged an unusual debt to Manjunath Shanmugam, the IIM graduate and Indian Oil manager who was killed in November 2005 by the petrol mafia for cracking down on adulteration.
Recipient of the second Manjunath Shanmugam Integrity Award today, 31-year-old Gogoi, a farmers activist in Assam, said he didn’t know who Shanmugam was and how he died until he was told by a friend to apply for the award. “It’s only then that I came to know,” he said, that he was a kindred spirit. “So I came to Delhi not so much to receive the award but to pay my respects to his spirit.”
Gogoi, as general secretary of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti of Assam (KMSSA), has been working for the cause of farmers in Assam since 2002, particularly the forest-dwellers in Golaghat bordering Nagaland. According to the citation of the Manjunath Shanmugam Trust — which instituted the award to honour and encourage efforts by individuals and institutions working to uphold values of truth and honesty in public life — Gogoi remained steadfast in his fight against corruption and malpractices inherent in various “development works” of the government.
His work highlighted irregularities in the Panchayat system, Rural Development schemes and the Public Distribution System (PDS).
“It started when over 5 lakh people were evicted from the forests by the department without any provision for rehabilitation. I was a university student then and with two more friends we mobilized the people and took out a rally. It had an effect. That is when my fight started. We keep mobilizing people and that’s the key to our efforts,” he said.
Gogoi, the general secretary of the Cotton College student’s union in 1995-96, left college and took up social service when he was doing his MA in English Literature in 2002. The same year, he married Gitashree Tamuly, who is a college teacher. They have a two-year-old son and the family’s expenses are paid for by the salary his wife gets.
“I was attacked by the local Congress Committee members for my ‘anti-state’ activities, and a case was also filed against me. But I was rescued by the High Court,” says Gogoi. During this period, Gogoi had to go underground, and he was introduced to his son only when he was already six months old.
Gogoi and his KMSSA used the RTI Act to uncover corruption in various schemes like the Indira Awas Yojana and the Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana. This was reported to the Chief Minister and following media coverage, local officials were arrested for alleged corruption.
The two other finalists for the award were the Urmul Jyoti Sansthan (UJS) and its founder Chetan Ram from Bikaner in Rajasthan for their work in health care, rural development and public advocacy. The UJS also used the RTI Act to expose corruption in various public projects. Working under the banner of the Jagruk Nagrik Manch, UJS activists actually coerced many public officials into returning bribes they took from citizens.
“Though our efforts were initially dismissed, government servants gradually started returning the money they took. We have all the receipts with us, wherein the official writes the amount of bribe he took and then returns it back,” said Ram. “I have been dragged to court in many false cases and have even faced physical assault. But now, resistance has declined.”
The fight against corruption led the third nominee, M N Vijayakumar, an IAS officer from Karnataka, to be transferred seven times in nine months. Not allowed to attend the event, he was represented by Jayashree, his wife and an activist herself. His crime? Blowing the whistle on the misuse of Government land and corrupt practices in various PSUs. Said Jayashree: “Vijayakumar keeps getting notices every time he uncovers corruption in the state. But it’s the zeal for bringing about change that keeps us going despite all the threats.”
The nominations were adjudged on the basis of the gravity of the situation in the area of work; corrective measures taken to fight the situation; and the extent of difficulty and challenges faced. What was common to all the nominations was their commitment towards ensuring transparency in the government’s development works.
“The fight against corruption is an uphill task. You’ll be beaten up and dragged to courts for all your honesty,” said Kiran Bedi, the chief guest at the award function. “Justice and integrity mean nothing unless we talk of police reforms. That department is the most corrupt,” she said.

BLUSH-Comrades

The crackdown started again. Everything is in the eye of media, people. Fervour of Free TIBET is on rise again. Officially more than 20 monks has been killed. Bloodshed is going on. Big brother China has flexed its muscles. Comrade Hu Jintao and Wen Jiya Bao has given licence for this. Beijng Olympics are next door. When they were tired to establish the image of Goodwill China all these happened. Now they are diverted. They are vpwed to crush
Dalai Lama can play a very favourable role given his belief in non-violence, given his stated position that he does not seek political independence for Tibet, and given his unassailable authoritative moral stature, not just with the people of Tibet but with people from around the world. China has turned ear deaf. Dalai Lama Nobel Peace laureate, who is on exile in India since 1959 after a failed armed uprising against the communist rule in Tibet. He could play key role.

Chinese state media said for the first time on Thursday that anti-government riots that rocked Tibet last week have spread to other provinces as the communist authorities announced the first group of arrests for the violence.
The announcements came as the government sent armed police into far-flung towns and villages to reassert control as sporadic demonstrations continued to flare up, and barred any foreigners from traveling there or journalists from reporting.
The official Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday on "riots in Tibetan-inhabited areas in the provinces of Sichuan and Gansu, both neighboring Tibet." It blamed the protests on supporters of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader.
Xinhua said the protests attacked "shops and government offices" on Sunday in Aba country in northwestern Sichuan. It said there were similar protests in five areas of southern Gansu province.
The Xinhua report confirms previous claims by exile Tibet activist groups that the protests had spread. Foreign journalists have been banned from going to Tibet and have found it increasingly difficult to travel to areas in other provinces with Tibetan populations.
The Tibet Daily reported that 24 people had been arrested for endangering state security, and for other "grave crimes" for their roles in last Friday's riots in Lhasa.
"This incident has severely disrupted the social order, harmed people's life and property, and these illegal acts organized, pre-planned, and well-designed by the Dalai clique," Lhasa deputy chief prosecutor Xie Yanjun was quoted as saying. "We have to strike the aggressive criminals on the basis of facts guided by law," he said.
Xinhua said previously that 170 people had surrendered for their role in the Lhasa riots. The violence injured 325 people and China says 16 were killed, denying Tibetan exile groups' claims that 80 died.
The protests have been the biggest challenge in almost two decades to Chinese rule in Tibet, a Himalayan region that the People's Liberation Army occupied in 1950 after several decades of effective independence.
But authorities appeared to be regaining control in Tibet and surrounding provinces where more than half of China's 5.4 million Tibetans live. Moving from town to town, police checked IDs and set up roadblocks to keep Tibetans in and reporters out. On Thursday morning, an Associated Press photographer was turned away from a flight to Zhongdian in Yunnan province. There were 12 policemen, including with automatic weapons at the check-in counter. The police said that no foreigners were allowed to travel to Tibetan areas due to the protests.
The unrest has prompted discussion of a possible boycott of the Aug. 8 opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics and calls for China to address Tibetans' grievances and engage in direct talks with the Dalai Lama.
But a top Beijing Olympics official vowed Wednesday that the unrest would not disrupt plans for the torch relay preceding this summer's Olympics in Beijing. One leg of the relay will pass through Tibet, taking the flame to the peak of Mount Everest sometime in May.
"We know the incidents are the last thing we want to see, but we firmly believe that the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region will be able ensure the stability of Lhasa and Tibet, and also be able to ensure the smooth going of the torch relay in Tibet," Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice president of the Beijing organizing committee, told reporters.
Many Olympic committees have spoken out against a boycott of the games, but some athletes have voiced concern.

MEDIA CITY-Media Hub in India

The government is looking at setting up a media city on the public-private partnership model. The proposal was mooted at a meeting called by the information & broadcasting minister which was attended by representatives from the print and broadcasting media industries including members of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS), the Association of Indian Magazines as well as the Indian Broadcasting Foundation. The general consensus was in favour of a separate media city on the lines of facilities that have been set up in cities such as Dubai, Manila and Colombo. The government proposed that over 200 acres should be identified and developed as a media city housing the print, broadcasting, publishing and the internet media industries. It has also asked the media bodies to come up with a list of problems facing them and how a full-fledged media city could solve them. “Though the proposed city is still at the concept stage, the idea is to have a common place where broadcasters can find uplinking facilities while newspapers can avail of printing facilities. For instance, today my printing facilities are spread across Okhla, Gurgaon and Noida,” said Maheshwar Peri, publisher, Outlook Group. Some print media executives also complained that while the old newspaper companies have facilities at prime locations, the relatively new players found it difficult to get a place to set up their operations. While the government may have taken the initiative this time, proposal for a media city was first made by the print media industry some six years ago.

The KC KULISH AWARD

Year 1956, nine years after Independence of India, one journalist dared to dream of a newspaper free from influences and interests, totally credible, wedded to truth and public good and devoid of commercial concerns and set about making it a reality. Karpoor Chandra Kulish’s dream and ideals drove him to launch Rajasthan Patrika with a borrowed capital of Rs 500 (about 100 US dollars then). Today Rajasthan Patrika is the most authentic voice of India’s largest state, besides being the only Hindi daily with readership in most parts of India including such non-Hindi speaking states as West Bengal, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It is one of the largest circulated Hindi newspapers of the Indian sub-continent, and is among the top 50 newspapers of the world with over 13 million readers in India. The phenomenal growth from virtual scratch was possible only due to Karpoor Chandra Kulish’s grit and determination and his faith in the people of Rajasthan, who responded generously to his brand of journalism based on truth, courage and independence. Karpoor Chandra Kulish never swerved from the path of fairness and honesty. Professional excellence went hand in hand with coverage of news and expression of views always focused on public interest and welfare. He set high standards and healthy traditions for his successors to imbibe and follow.
Even today, the ideals and traditions of Karpoor Chandra Kulish remain the driving force for Rajasthan Patrika. In a recent BBC-Reuters survey, Rajasthan Patrika was listed among the top five “most trusted” publications of the country. The interests and problems of citizens as readers remain the newspaper’s prime focus and concern.
The Rajasthan Patrika Group is glad to announce the Karpoor Chandra Kulish Award 2007 (KCK Award 2007). This annual award, in the hallowed memory of Karpoor Chand Kulish, is aimed at recognizing efforts of thought leaders in media, journalist’s outstanding contributions to upholding professional values as well as protecting and promoting ethics and morality, right and freedom of the people for better quality of life. The award theme for year 2007 shall be “Human Development”.
There is no entry fee for the award.
“Human Development”:The first KCK Award for excellence in print journalism will be open to those who have authored and published the most compelling write-ups in media contributing to changing the lives and meeting the aspirations of people. We seek to honor journalists who covered events of people’s struggle for a life of dignity, fulfillment and honor.
We expect the contributions to represent manifestation of man’s unique spirit and goodness of life. They shall also depict strong focus on showcasing self-governance leading to effective social change.

FICCI Forum 2008

FICCI, has been playing a pioneering role in projecting the promise and the potential of the Inidan entertainment industry from getting the film industry to be recognised as an industry to corporatisation and access to clean, institutional funding. FICCI, very closely worked with the Ministry for Information & Broadcasting and was instrumental for getting the offical recognition of the entertainment sector, including films as an Industry.
The first ever report on the Indian entertainment industry authored by FICCI was released in 2001.
FICCI-FRAMES: Asia's Biggest Convention on the Business of Entertainment (2500 delegates from over 22 Countries)
FICCI instituted the first ever Animation Awards in India in 2004, FICCI BAF (Best Animated FRAMES) Awards, to recognize the excellence in Animation, Gaming and Visual Effects.
Works closely with both, Central and State Governments on Key Policy isues.
Showcases the promise and potential of India media & Entertainment Sector at various international forums.
International Linkages : CASBAA, WIPO, PROMAX, MIPTV, MIPCOM, ANNECY Animation festival, MPAA, VES, FICCI-IIFA Forum, LIMA, ATF etc.

KC KULISH AWARD- New in Journalism Excellence

Dawn & HT jointly win KCK Award 2007
The results of the inaugural Karpoor Chandra Kulish International Award-2007 for excellence in print journalism are in and the jury has declared DAWN (Pakistan) and HINDUSTAN TIMES (Delhi) as joint winners.
This annual international award, instituted by Rajasthan Patrika, a media institution of repute, in the hallowed memory of Karpoor Chand Kulish, is aimed at recognizing credible and value based journalism. To begin with, recognizing and encouraging inhouse journalistic talents has been a way of life in Rajasthan Patrika. Rajasthan Patrika had established an internal mechanism several years ago by which journalists within the organization are encouraged and adequately awarded. Now, it is the endeavour of Patrika to do it globally by instituting the KCKIA Award. In addition, the prestigious Concerned Communicator Award was instituted by Rajasthan Patrika over a decade ago. It is the most coveted and highly recognized social advertising award of the country. We invite ad professionals to make print advertisements on any social issue that they feel strongly for. This year the CCA has entered into its 10th Year and it continues to represent the true spirit of creative excellence.
The theme for KCKIA award for year 2007 was "Human Development" and stories should have been published on or after 1st January 2007 through 31st December 2007. The jury received 187 entries in total across the globe viz., from countries like the USA, Canada, Germany, South Africa, Australia, Pakistan, etc. The Sixty-one Indian newspapers pitched for 145 entries and ten members of international media submitted 42 entries. The story of Assistant Editor Afsan Subhai & his team “Why does corporate Pakistan detest democracy”, published in Karachi edition of the Dawn, and the story published by Senior Editor Nilesh Mishra & his team “The new Muslim series – From Masjid to market a journey” published in Delhi edition of Hindustan Times were declared joint winners.
The jury submitted that the entries were ample proof of quality journalism. They appreciated the efforts of Rajasthan Patrika and commented that probably it was the first time when not only the reporert but the whole team also was getting its due. It would enhance the team sprit and efficiency. The jury was comprised of luminaries, like Mr. N. Ram, Editor in Chief of The Hindu; Mr. H.K. Dua Editor in Chief of The Tribune; Prof. Bakul H. Dholakia, former Director of IIM, Ahmedabad; Mr. Peeyush Pandey (the ad guru), Executive Chairman & National Creative Director of Ogilvy & Mather Ltd.; and Mr.Gulab Kothari, Editor & Managing Director of Rajasthan Patrika.
The Award distribution function will be held in Delhi on the 12th of March. The Chief Guest will be the former President of India Dr. A.P.J.Abul Kalam, and the function will be presided over by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. The award carries a prize money of US $ 11000 and a trophy. A few special-mention awards will also be presented.
And the following stories have been selected for merit award -
i) Times of India, Ahmedabad – “Save the girl child” by Radha Sharma & her team.ii) The Mercury, South Africa – “South Africa’s poisonous work places” by Tony Carnie & his team.iii) Hindustan Times Delhi – “India besiges series – one in every six Indians lives under insurgency” by Yashwant Raj & his team.iv) Dainik Janambhumi, Guwahati – “HIV/Aids awareness campaign” by Lakhyajit Gohain & his team.v) Amar Ujala, Kanpur – “Badhal Bundelkhand” by Pratap Samvanshi & his team.vi) Hindustan Times, Chandigarh – “War torn – a series on the plight of war martyr families” by Kuldeep Maan & his team.vii) The Statesman, Kolkata – “ The ugly truth in Nandigram” by Sukumar Mitra & his team.viii) Uttar Ujala, Dehradun – “Slow pace of development in Uttrakhand – resulting hardship of people” by Jay Singh Rawat & his team. ix) Rashtra Deepika Daily, Kerala – “Weeping faces, frozen mind” by Reji Joseph & his team.x) Saurashtra Aaspass, Bhavnagar – “Jiske jeevan me andhera hai…” by Hitesh Raviya

ADIEU to MJ Akbar from The Asian Age

Veteran Indian journalist and author M J Akbar, who is widely regarded for his brilliant inscription of words, columns and books, has been ‘forced out’ of the Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle newspapers. Akbar and Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd, which had a majority stake in Asian Age Holdings parted ways this month.
Akbar, who worked in both the newspapers as its editor-in-chief.
Akbar says there had been disagreement over editorial matters with Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd. “I wanted an independent line, whereas the Deccan Chronicle management was insistent that I be supportive of the pro-establishment, government policies. “I haven’t quit; I have been forced out,”. According to reports, he is holding 10 per cent in the Asian Age Holdings Ltd., while the rest 90 per cent is being held by the Deccan Chronicle; a fact that he outrightly denies.
The buzz is that ever since Deccan Chronicle increased its holding to 90 per cent from a meek 23 per cent in May 2005, there were disagreements between the two. However, the media insiders say this could just be a hogwash. It is said Akbar’s dismissal has a lot to do with the Congress party. Akbar is reportedly eyeing Rajya Sabha membership and opposition BJP wants Akbar nominated for one of the seats. It is speculated that none other than Congress President Sonia Gandhi wanted Akbar out of The Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle. And Akbar’s conflict with ‘pro-establishment’ Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd could have acted detrimental here. Akbar had a brief stint as a member of parliament from Bihar’s Kishanganj constituency on the Congress party ticket in 1989. He founded the Asian Age in 1993, and published it initially from New Delhi, Bombay, Kolkata and London. He has previously edited publications such as Sunday and The Telegraph from Kolkata.
Discussing whether returning to politics was on his mind, Akbar said: “I am independent, and will remain independent. I, as a journalist, have many friends in the politics. Why should I not have political acquaintances and contacts?” he asked. “I am not going to be defeated so easily,” he added.
Cutting across ideological lines, many political parties including the Left have shown sympathy and support for Akbar.

EVM conceptualiser is no more- Sujatha is dead

EVM conceptualiser is no more- Sujatha is dead

EVM conceptuliser is no more- Sujatha is dead

The key person behind the development of the Electronic Voting Machine and an eminent writer, S Rangarajan alias Sujatha, has died.
A multi-faceted personality,73-year-old Rangarajan, is survived by wife and two sons. Sujatha, who had been suffering from diabetes and had undergone a bypass heart surgery, died of multiple organ failure on Wednesday night, doctors at the Apollo Hospital said.
An electronics engineer from IIT-Madras, Sujatha was general manager (Research and Development) in Bharat Electronics [Get Quote] Limited (BEL) and was instrumental in designing the EVMs extensively used for polls in the country.
He had taken great pains to prove the efficacy of the EVMs a few years ago, when suspicions had been raised about the functioning of the machines. Sujatha was a pioneer in the field of science fictions in Tamil. He also wrote short stories, novels, screenplays and columns in weeklies.
In his fictions, the writer imagined a Chennai post-2020, where air-taxis and gigolos would be a common affair. He also ventured into areas of child sex abuse, a concept not much discussed by the Tamil society.
With about 100 novels and 200 short stories under his kitty, he served as editor of popular weekly Kumudam.
His columns in Ananda Vikatan, which discussed a range of issues, enjoyed wide readership.
Sujatha wrote screenplay and dialogues for Rajnikanth-starrer film Sivaji --The Boss and under-production film Dasavataram featuring Kamal Haasan.